Yunjin Kim

Infobox actor
name = Yunjin Kim
김윤진/金允珍


imagesize =
caption =
birthdate = birth date and age|1973|11|7
location = Seoul, South Korea
birthname =
homepage =
sagawards = Best Ensemble - Drama Series
2005 "Lost"

Yunjin Kim (born November 7, 1973) is a Korean American film and theatre actress, best known in the English-speaking world for her role as Sun-Hwa Kwon on the ABC television series "Lost.

Biography

Introduction

A talented South Korean actress who first made a name for herself throughout Asia with a powerful performance in director Kang Je-gyu's ultra-stylish, heart-stopping action film Shiri, Kim Yun-jin soon found her popularity in her native country spilling over into the U.S. when she was cast as the survivor of a horrific plane crash in the hit ABC series Lost in 2004.

Born in South Korea and raised in the United States, Kim enrolled in her school's drama club in the seventh grade. Though the bright lights simply prove too intimidating to some, the bilingual but somewhat shy young actress felt strangely at home in front of an audience. In the years that followed her initial exposure to the stage, Kim refined her talents at both New York's High School of the Performing Arts and later at the University of Boston. Upon graduation, Kim wasted no time in taking to the New York stage until a phone call from a friend in Korea led her to a temporary job as a film location manager in 1996. It didn't take long for Kim to catch the eye of the producers who were working on the project, and after being quickly cast in a role originally intended for another Korean actress, her career began to accelerate. Proving her abilities with a series of supporting roles on television in the following months, Kim received her breakthrough when cast in a pivotal role in the wildly successful South Korean action film Shiri.

In addition to making the actress a household name in her native land, Shiri surpassed even Titanic at the Korean box office and found international success throughout Asia before eventually arriving on American shores. A series of high-profile roles in such profitable South Korean features as Iron Palm and Yesterday were quick to follow, and after appearing in the 2002 Hong Kong drama Milae, Kim returned stateside to essay the role as one half of a South Korean couple whose airplane crash lands them on a mysterious island in Lost.

Early life

Kim was born in Seoul, South Korea. At the age of ten, Kim emigrated to the United States with her family. Fact|date=March 2007 They lived in Staten Island, New York, one of New York City's five boroughs. She joined the middle school drama club in the 7th grade and performed in the musical "My Fair Lady".

Kim attended high school at the prestigious Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, a public high school located in Manhattan. From there, she went on to study drama at the London Academy of Performing Arts and later earned her drama degree at Boston University.

Career

After graduation, Kim devoted herself full time to acting. She garnered several minor parts on MTV, in soap opera-style dramas on ABC, and on the off-Broadway stage. In 1996, a South Korean TV show filming in Manhattan called and persuaded her to return to her country of origin, to appear in the South Korean TV drama "A Gorgeous Vacation". This was followed by two other roles in "Foreboding" and the miniseries "Wedding Dress". Then in 1997 she was offered a script for her debut film, "Shiri" (1999). Shiri was South Korea's first blockbuster film and became the highest grossing film in the history of Korean cinema in 1999.

Over the next several years, she starred in five additional films. In July 2003, Kim signed a three-year contract with William Morris, an American agency representing Hollywood stars such as Halle Berry, Salma Hayek, Kevin Spacey, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Lucy Liu, Jackie Chan, and Reese Witherspoon.

Kim can currently be seen as the character Sun-Hwa Kwon in the television series "Lost" (2004).

In May 2006, Maxim named Kim #98 on its annual List. [http://www.maximonline.com/slideshows/index.aspx?slideId=2003&imgCollectId=94&src=wiki] In October 2006 she was featured on the cover of Stuff, as well as a spread inside the magazine.

Kim appeared in Maxim again in March 2007, where she was described as "the Korean Julia Roberts" in her native Korea.

Kim won the 2008 Daejong Award's Lead Actress Award for "Seven Days(2007)" on June 27th, 2008, in South Korea.

Filmography

* "Seven Days" (2007) ... as You Ji Hyeon
* "Diary of June" (2005) ... as Seo Yun-hee
* "Lost" (2004-) TV Series ... as Sun-Hwa Kwon
* "Milae" (2002) ... as Mi-heun
**... aka Ardor (2002) (Hong Kong: English title) (USA)
* "Yesterday" (2002) ... as Hui-su
* "Iron Palm" (2002) ... as Ji-ni
**... aka Mr Iron Palm (2002) (International: English title)
* "Rush!" (2001) ... as Seo-Yeong
* "Danjeogbiyeonsu" (2000) ... as Yeon
**... aka Gingko Bed 2 (2000) (informal English title)
**... aka Moyuru Tsuki: The Legend of Gingko (2000)
* "Swiri" (1999) ... as Lee, Myung-hyun (Lee, Bang-hee)
**... aka "Shiri" (1999) (Hong Kong: English title)
* "Wedding Dress" (1998) TV Series ... as Gina
**... aka Wedding Dress
* "With Love" (1998) TV Series
* "Beautiful Vacation" (1996) (mini) TV Series

Reference

External links

* [http://www.yunjinkim.com Official Yunjin Kim Website]
*
* [http://www.starpulse.com/Actresses/Kim,_Yunjin/ Starpulse]

Persondata
NAME = Yunjin Kim
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = American actress
DATE OF BIRTH = November 7, 1973
PLACE OF BIRTH = Seoul, South Korea
DATE OF DEATH =
PLACE OF DEATH =